Chapter Text
Inosuke ends up hanging with the street gang quite often. A few days after his first visit to the hideout, he spots Uigo at the same park they met for the first time. They spend a few evenings together, Uigo showing him around and telling him things about their so-called community.
“Hey, Uigo,” Inosuke breaks the silence. They’re sitting near a freeway, knocking cans with rocks on a late Sunday afternoon. A few of they guy’s followers lurk nearby.
That’s one thing Inosuke’s got familiar with: it’s the confidence that matters in these kinds of groups. You don’t even have to be physically powerful – sometimes big words and a flashy smile are enough. Inosuke has plenty of experience from middle school, though the stakes must be higher, now that they’re older.
It’s not like physical strength or charisma were problems for him. In fact, he has everything required to become a respected member of the gang. Three years ago he would’ve been thrilled. It’s just that… he’s wiser now. It sits a bit wrong with him, a strong, unwavering hierarchy like that.
“Hmm?” the other finally replies.
Inosuke voices the question that he’s still unsure about. “Are people here like, friends? Or just a group of leftovers hanging together?”
Uigo snorts. “Uhh… I guess the latter.” he digs into his pocket for a cigarette. “Plenty of us are somehow excluded from the standard society. Some have dropped out of school, some are orphans, some have run from home.”
Damn?
“Is it always that deep?”
“Definitely not. A good amount is just lazy or angsty from teenage years.”
“Huh.”
Inosuke shifts to lie down on the short grass. It has withered into shades of browns and yellows. The heat is intense, though the air is heavy with rain. Barely any cars pass by them.
“Are you genuinely interested?” Uigo lights up the cigarette.
“I guess, yeah,” Inosuke rubs his sweaty forehead. His bangs are getting long.
“Well,” The other hums. “It’s a poor prefecture. Not everyone has it fair,” he pauses to think. “It’s not like people will defend you with their lives if you get in trouble. I think that’s only fair, though. Loyalty isn’t the word here: if you’re not in debt for someone, there’s no reason to risk yourself for them.”
“Huh,” Inosuke repeats. Without even noticing, he starts fiddling with his sewn bracelets. That ideology is… harsh. Not completely unreasonable, though.
“Have you tied those yourself?” The guy asks.
“These?” He glances at the bracelets. “Yeah, my mom’s taught me.”
“Teach me, too.”
“Do you have any, like, close friends?” Inosuke ignores him.
Uigo eyes him for a second. “No, not really. Only these… pawns. Like, minions, whatever you wanna call ‘em. Would’cha like to be close friends with someone?”
“I don’t know,” Inosuke glares at the sky. “I haven’t had many friends. I’m not sure.”
“Fair enough,” Uigo stomps his cigarette to the ground. “But teach me how to make those bracelets, man.”
Later that evening, Uigo invites some people with them to the beach: a tall bald guy, two younger brothers, and a black girl. They introduce themselves, and Inosuke snorts and tells them not to bother, he’s bad at names.
“Uh, guys, would you do a short store trip?” Uigo asks the brothers lingering on their trail
“Man, aren’t they too young?” The bald dude replies. “Ain’t fair to make ‘em pay.”
“They can shoplift,” Uigo gruffs.
“Why won’t you make Hashibira go?” The other youngster asks.
“Yeah, we’ve been around for longer than him,” his brother agrees.
“Have you beat up Ryunosuke?” Uigo spits. “That’s what I thought. Off ya go.”
Inosuke smirks. The brothers exchange looks but leave anyway.
“You sure they’ll not get caught?” Baldie asks.
“If they do, that’s their problem,” Uigo stretches his back. “Let’s go.”
They start walking to the beach. Inosuke recognizes the route as the same one he followed the night before his first collision with Uigo. The atmosphere is still moist, though the sun has disappeared. It feels almost tropical.
“Do you know the way?” Uigo suddenly questions when Inosuke seems to know where he’s going.
“Oh, uhh,” he slows down. “I heard of this beach from our neighbors when they visited.”
“Who visited you?” Uigo queries.
“I don’t remember. Some kids our age… two dudes and one girl.” Inosuke replies.
“Any more specific?”
“The other guy was blond, and the other had earrings.” Inosuke squints his eyes, digging through his memory.
“You’re really making me do the detective work,” Uigo chuckles.
“Oh, the earring dude works at the grocery store near our house,” He remembers.
“Hey, that helps,” Uigo tilts his head. “Earrings, huh…Yeah, it’s… the Kamados, I think. They surf at this beach quite often.”
“Why do you know all these people?” Inosuke shoves his hands in his pockets.
“Oh, you’ll eventually know everyone here, too. This shithole is so damn small,” Uigo replies. “What about the blondie? Were they all siblings?”
“How would I know? The blond lives like, right next to me. Don’t know about the rest.”
“The Kamados are a big family. Though, I don’t think they live next to you. Maybe the blond’s just a friend,” Uigo decides. Inosuke shrugs.
They reach the sand line. The beach is on the smaller side, surrounded by palm trees and bush hedges. Inosuke notices a flight of seagulls screaming at the waves. He still hasn’t gotten used to their singing. If it can be called singing, anyway.
“Can you surf?” Uigo breaks the comfortable silence.
“I’ve never tried. Do we have boards?” Inosuke glares at the sea. “Who’re those?” He points out his hand at some kids on the waves.
“Oh, speaking of the devil,” Baldie scoffs. “Isn’t that the Kamado kids? Sisters from Kocho, too.”
Uigo raises his hand to cover his eyes. “Sure they are. Do you recognize anyone, Ino?”
“Why are you so curious about this?” Inosuke asks, narrowing his eyes anyway. “Well, yeah, that blond guy, the one with the earrings, and the brunette girl.”
“Really?” Baldie laughs.
“Yeah,” Inosuke crosses his arms. “How so?”
“Oh, it’s a funny story,” Uigo huffs.
“What’s?”
“Well…” Uigo brushes his hair back. “A year or so ago… I tried hitting on the brunette girl. She’s one of the prettiest girls in our school.”
“They go to your school?” Inosuke interrupts.
“Hold on now, this is good,” Baldy hushes him. Uigo smirks at the attention.
“So, she, uh, didn’t like it. I admit, I was being kinda eager. And her big brother –” Uigo points out the earring guy “ – happened to be with her. And that dude…” Uigo clenches his jaw.
Baldie’s shoulders shake with laughter. “When Uigo didn’t give up, Kamado punched him in the jaw.”
“Fuck off,” Uigo grunts. “It wasn’t pretty.”
“He punched you?” Inosuke blinks.
“Ui acted like he was gonna take the girl home,” Baldie shakes his head. “If I had a little sis, I would’ve punched him too.”
Inosuke snorts.
“Well, that’s why I’m not on the best terms with the Kamado boy. And that’s why I was so curious, whether you knew him or not.” Uigo finishes the story. “We used to be friends, can you imagine?”
They lay their stuff down, taking a meaningful distance from Kamado’s camp. Uigo starts ordering Baldy and the quiet girl around, telling them to steal some boards. The two obey for some reason. Inosuke has drifted off to pick up seashells from the sand. His mom might like them.
“Ino, d’ya wanna join them?”
Inosuke turns around weighing option. Again, one of those questions he has hesitated to ask about. The thing is, he doesn’t care about his buddies’ doings, but criminality is something that sticks wrong with him. He isn’t a thief.
“I don’t know if, uh, that kinda stuff is for me,” He replies.
Uigo eyes him up and down. “What do you mean by that?”
“I mean, I don’t care what ya’ll are up to but…” he presses his lips together. “I don’t care for stealing stuff. It’s pathetic.”
Uigo’s face shifts so slightly that Inosuke barely even notices it. He turns back to say something for the baldie, who nods and leaves for the board hunt with the girl.
“Remember!” Uigo shouts to their backs. “Only from tourists. Respect the locals!”
Then, the two of them are the only ones left on the beach. Uigo walks up to him,
“You know you can leave if you don’t like our… policies,” he speaks.
Inosuke cringes. “Like I said, I don’t care what you do. It’s just not for me.”
“Aight.”
Inosuke sits in the sand to eye the Kamado guy from afar, tracking his tricks. His friends’ voices and laughs are overpowered by the splashes of the waves. The different hoops, jumps and turns look really cool. One weird thing is that none of them are in swimsuits, just in their regular clothes.
“Kamado’s pretty good,” Uigo kneels beside him. “I’d like to compete with him again sometime.”
“He doesn’t give off the vibe he’d be going around, beating up people.” Inosuke chews on his lip.
“Agreed. I don’t know what’s his problem. I think he has grown to dislike me.”
“Have you known each other for long?” Inosuke starts piling up sand in front of him.
“As I said earlier… we go to the same school.” Uigo starts. “We used to be friends, as well.”
Inosuke makes a mental note to himself – apparently, Uigo, Kamado, and his other neighbors are all going to attend the same school with him.
“Our school… kinda divides into groups. One of them being the live-laugh-love-nerds, including Kamado and his friends. One of them being us, the leftovers. Then there are the rich kids, sports lovers, whatever,” Uigo lists. “Most of them are on good terms with each other.”
Uigo quiets down to watch one of the surfers nail a trick. “Not enough flexibility,” he comments. “Well, anyway, we’re literally the leftovers. Troublemakers and problem children. That’s why the other kids, I dunno, despise us.”
Inosuke has turned to draw patterns in the sand with his finger.
“So… the hierarchy’s strong,” the taller teen concludes, when the silence stretches.
Inosuke takes in the information. “I’m gonna join you for the autumn semester, by the way.”
“Really? Why didn’t you say earlier?” Uigo turns his head.
“I wasn’t sure. But I remember the Kamado kid saying we’ll be in the same grade.”
“What year are you in?” Uigo leans forward. “Man, I had no idea.”
“12th. It’s my last,” Inosuke smirks.
“Seriously? What the fuck, you graduating?” The other stares at him.
“Hopefully, yeah. What about you?”
“I’m 11th. This’s my second last year. How didn’t this come up earlier?” Uigo scratches his head. “You’re an adult soon!”
“Just turned 17 but fine,” Inosuke snorts.
“Still!”
Inosuke hesitates for a second before asking something that has been on his mind again. “Since the topic’s on the table… how’re people like me taken in?” He asks.
Uigo thinks for a moment. “We don’t usually have transfer students. And since you’re coming for the latter half of your last year, people have already settled in their groups,” he answers. “You probably gotta make some friends.”
“Yeah, starting with Kamado,” Inosuke sneers.
“You better be joking.”
The brothers return with soda cans, chips, and fruits. Uigo congratulates them, skillfully ignoring any questions about paybacks. Finally, baldie and the girl come back as well, carrying stolen surfboards. Inosuke throws off his sweat-damp shirt – the texture feels uncomfortable on his skin.
“Okay, now, look,” Uigo guides him. “Balance your weight evenly on the board, try to like, lay on it, don’t relax your muscles!”
Inosuke fails, and the board flips over.
“It’s hard, ain’t it?” Uigo laughs when Inosuke’s standing again.
They’re waist-deep in the water, and the first challenge is climbing on the board to paddle. That’s literally the very first step, and Inosuke is nowhere near succeeding. He brushes his hair back to see something, only to find Uigo’s eyes glued to his torso. “Dude, you’re not subtle,” he scoffs.
“Dude yourself, you’re fucking jacked.” The other stutters, shaking his head. “Once more,” he orders.
Finally, he’s lying on his stomach on the board. Uigo follows him effortlessly, climbing on his own board in one, swift movement.
“Okay, now, you’re kinda unbalanced,” he hesitates.
Then, a wave, and Inosuke’s in the water again.
After dozens of attempts, they give up. Inosuke hasn’t paddled for a single meter, and Uigo’s getting tired. Inosuke’s eyes follow as he easily stands on his board and does some tricks.
“Maybe you just suck!” Uigo shouts.
“Maybe your teaching sucks,” Inosuke replies under his voice. His pants are sticking tightly to his legs, and the inside of his mouth tastes like salt. It’s a shame, he’s been wanting to learn to surf for a long time, but apparently, he’s not made for the board.
When the night sets, they lay down on the cooled-down sand to drink and eat.
“Aren’t you like, fucking freezing?” Uigo furrows his brows.
Inosuke is still shirtless after the surfing. He shrugs. “Not really. My shirt’s still wet.”
Uigo stares at him for a while, then nods and turns away.
Inosuke has finished a good amount of their food. Swimming makes him damn gluttonous. He raises his glance to stare at the sky, noticing the small stars far away. Most of their companions have left already. Only Baldie sits with them. It’s strange, yet comforting, how people come and go at their own pace.
Inosuke falls to his thoughts, his gaze wandering around the beach, occasionally stopping to examine a certain detail. The smell of seaweed mixes with the sweet night bloomer flowers. Apart from his hunger, he’s feeling content. Like something he imagines spending time with friends feels like.
“Hey, Inosuke,” Uigos’ voice slides into the silence. “Do you happen to…be single?”
Spending time with friends, yeah, sure. Inosuke shifts in his seat awkwardly. “Single and planning to remain as one,” he replies, pretending not to pick up the hint.
Uigo flinches. “Yikes, got my hopes up.”
Inosuke fidgets with his bracelets again, staying quiet.
“It’s girls, then?” Uigo hums.
“It’s nobody. I don’t do relationships,” Inosuke prepares to repeat the same mantra he has told a lot of hopeful people. “Y’know, I like my freedom just like this. I’m not in the dating scene.”
“Am I allowed to try to change that, though?”
“C’mon Uigo, a no is a no,” Baldie suddenly comments. Inosuke thanks him silently.
“What’s so bad about a little romance?” Uigo drags his words and tilts his head to watch the sky. “Ya said you’d like a friend, a relationship is kinda the same?”
“No, it’s not.” Inosuke huffs.
“Yeah, Ui, shut up.” Baldie laughs.
The conversation dies off after that. They pack their few things, wave goodbye, and drift off in separate directions. The last chat of the night plays like a record in Inosuke’s head as he climbs up the hill to his house. Only the singing of the crickets disturbs his thoughts.
At this point, it’s getting clear that Uigo and the others won’t grow closer to him than this. Which is, Inosuke supposes, alright, but a bit of a disappointment. It would be nice for someone to have your back, like, an ally. A real friend, if one wants to call it that.
Inosuke takes a shortcut through a grass meadow to his house. The tall grass almost blocks his view as he stumbles through the plants. Hopefully, there aren’t any snakes.
“Welcome home,” a voice greets him from the kitchen as he shuts the door.
“Oh, you’re back,” Inosuke replies.
“Yep! My second trip! And can you imagine, they already told me the date of the next one!” His mom yells back.
Inosuke takes off his shoes and walks into the doorway. “You were like, two days home between these two flights. When are you gonna actually stay home for a bit?”
“Oh, honey, the business is busy at the moment,” she beams. Then, her expression shifts. “Have you started smoking?”
“No?” Inosuke smells the air. The scent of tobacco is… undeniably there. “Um, the guys I hung out with do smoke.”
Mom raises her brows and takes a meaningful sip of her tea. “Right. Sounds like great influence.”
“It’s not like I’ll suddenly start doing crack or anything,” Inosuke sighs.
“No, I’m more worried that you’ll start building up that same gang leader complex like last time,” she laughs. “Only this time you’re all bigger in size and your fists actually hit hard.”
A memory of a beat-up Ryunosuke flashes in Inosuke’s head, making him snort. “I promise I won’t get myself into anything I can’t get out of.”
“Well, that’s roundabout.” Mom exhales.
“At least I’m making friends!” Maybe, Inosuke smiles.
“You just can’t be tamed,” she pats a seat next to her. Inosuke steps to sit at the table and pours himself a cup. The tea smells like bitter herbs.
“I was kind of hoping you’d pick up my hint and try becoming friends with the Kamado siblings. I saw the mom of the family, by the way– ” she stops, noticing Inosuke’s expression. “Something wrong with them?”
“Uh…” Inosuke grimaces at his tea cup. “Kamado dude gave off that mister know-it-all vibe. They all seemed annoying.”
“As your mother, it makes me amused to hear you call someone else know-it-all,” Mom hums. “Are a bunch of chain smokers any better, then?”
“I don’t know,” Inosuke chugs the liquid down in one go. “What did the Kamado mom say?” He changes the subject.
Thankfully mom doesn’t drag on the topic any longer. Maybe she trusts Inosuke enough to let him make his own choices. “She told me Tanjiro – the eldest of the Kamado kids – loves surfing. Maybe he could teach you too? There are many kids in that household, by the way. Tanjiro has four younger siblings, can you imagine?” She giggles. “Watching just one grow up is enough for me!”
“Mom gossip, really,” Inosuke huffs.
“This is my way of making friends! You should try it too,” Mom chirps. “I was surprised to find out she’s a single parent as well! All prayers to that woman, working during the day, parenting all night.”
Inosuke listens patiently to her chitchat. He’s glad mom’s making friends. Her friends are often temporary connections, before they move again. Inosuke lets his gaze wander around the kitchen. Despite her busy lifestyle, mom has found time to decorate the rooms. Some of the green-painted cabinets are still lying against the wall.
“You want me to drill those to the wall?” Inosuke points at the cabinets. Mom follows his finger and tilts her head.
“Hmm, sure, not this late at night, though. I’ll show you the places tomorrow,” she replies. “Anyway, try giving Tanjiro a chance! You’re going to be on the same grade and all!”
“Maybe,” Inosuke says, mostly to please her.
On his way to sleep, Inosuke glances at their family calendar. Business trip, business trip, and… “school starts!!”. There aren’t many days left until he’s once again thrown into a new environment and forced to work with new people. It makes him excited but in a bad way. Anxiousness, that’s what they call it. Inosuke makes a face at the calendar and climbs upstairs. Why would it make any sense to worry about school on a summer vacation?